"The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. They were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the new year—though for them the year began not in January but in mid-March, when the crops were planted. During a massive 12-day religious festival known as Akitu, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed."

The fact that even 4,000 years ago people felt the need to make resolutions and pay debts is interesting to me. I take it to mean that self-improvement is part of our make-up and we desire to be debt free.

People seem to be in two camps when it comes to resolutions. For some making New Year's resolutions is important. Something that they take seriously. They make a plan and do their best to execute it successfully.

Others (and I'm in this camp) look at life as a continual process of self-improvement. When we want change something we plan on making the change as soon as we can. We see no reason to wait until the calendar changes to start.

No matter which camp you fall into, we hope that you're learning some new financial skills that you want to put into practice. And we also hope that we're able to give you some tools that can help you with those new skills.

So off we go into a brand new year. Let it be a prosperous one for all of us!

Keep on Stretching those New Year Dollars!Gary

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